


Blooming

by elsiepedee



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Angst and Feels, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Hanahaki Disease, I Will Go Down With This Ship, I wrote this on a whim, M/M, and if i get the chance to hurt gavin, anyone who knows me knows i never shut up about reed900, i always take the opportunity and run, like this fic, reed900
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-14
Updated: 2018-08-14
Packaged: 2019-06-27 04:50:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15678363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elsiepedee/pseuds/elsiepedee
Summary: And wasn't that just the kicker, huh? The fact that even though he was a fucking supercomputer, easily the smartest android out of them all, he still hadn't the faintest clue about why Gavin was like this. Gavin didn't know if he should feel proud about the fact that he had been able to keep such a secret from someone like Richard. He figured that this didn't count as a secret. It counted as a fucking embarrassment.





	Blooming

"I have booked you a surgical operation for the 12th of May," Richard said, eyes as cold as ice as he addressed him. "Your health insurance covers most of the cost, and I will pay for the rest of it. It isn't very expensive."   
  
"Why... Why would you do that?" Gavin stuttered, pale, sickly face trembling. His heart immediately dropped to the floor, the motion being practically  _ audible _ as he stepped back from the intimidating android.   
  
He tilted his head in confusion. "Detective, you've been showing symptoms of the Hanahaki disease for two months now. Recently, it's been getting increasingly severe. I fear that if you don't get the surgery soon, it might be too late." He continues. His voice doesn’t dip or stutter, simply implying the obvious with a level tone.   
  
And wasn't that just the kicker, huh? The fact that even though he was a fucking supercomputer, easily the smartest android out of them all, he still hadn't the faintest clue about why Gavin was like this. Gavin didn't know if he should feel proud about the fact that he had been able to keep such a secret from someone like Richard. He figured that this didn't count as a secret. It counted as a fucking  _ embarrassment. _ __  
  
Gavin opened his mouth to respond, shaking like a leaf, when suddenly he felt a searing pain in his chest. He stumbled backwards, gripping the wall. The motion was practically second nature to him. He crouched down onto the cold floor, and let the orange and yellow flowers drop below him. A pool of blood was bunched between every petal, wetting the flowers and turning it into something less beautiful, and something more gut-wrenching. The tang of iron filled Gavin's mouth, and suddenly, he just couldn't fucking take it anymore. He couldn't stand, couldn't lift his head to look back at Richard.  He just sat there, the feverish warmth in his body contrasting the icy chill of the floor as he just kept shaking.   
  
"It's getting increasingly more severe, Detective. Please just accept my help." Richard said quietly and carefully, crouching down to look him in the eye.    
  
"No," he whispered, all strength gone from his body.   
  
"No? Detective, I'm sorry, but I fear you don't know how bad this disease can end up being. In most cases, Hanahaki becomes fa-"   
  
"Yes, I know, I'm  __ dying , get used to it like I have, alright?" Gavin responds, cutting him short. He tries to stand, but he just can't, legs giving out immediately once he puts weight on them. "Why the hell do you care so much anyway?"   
  
"Because I don't want you to fucking die, Gavin!" Richard snaps, composure gone in a flash as he lets out the sudden burst of emotion. “This isn’t just about you or your feelings! Think about how Chen would feel if you just didn’t show up one day. Think about your cat, what would happen to her, huh? What would I do, huh? What would I do if you just didn’t show up one day? How do you think I’d feel-”

 

He cut himself off before he kept going, as he realized what he was saying. Suddenly, he was extremely aware of the warnings lining his vision, and of the software instability he had suddenly gained. His LED was blaring red, as his face went from angry to a softer, surprised look.

 

Gavin could suddenly breathe a little easier, but the difference was so miniscule that Gavin didn’t perceive his presence.

 

“Nevermind. But Detective, please. You need to consider the option of surgery.” Richard said. The burst of emotion was gone as soon as it had arrived, the life in his eyes leaving as he went back to the cold, dead machine he was so used to clinging on to. Gavin felt sad as he saw the flame die, and his body made sure to keep up with his mind as his breathing suddenly hitched in pain.

 

He had. Multiple times. But it was the little things- the touch of fingertips when he gave Gavin coffee, his messy hair after chasing after a perp, the spark of life in his eyes that came and went- those little things were what he hung onto. He loved them. He loved  _ him,  _ god, he fucking loved that bastard.

 

He considered surgery, but then Richard would do something small and Gavin would always postpone it. He’d hope, he’d long for his feelings to be reciprocated, but they never would be. They couldn’t be. Richard didn’t feel.

 

Except for the times that he did, and Gavin fell hopelessly and deeply back into that hole.

 

He had postponed this for way too long.

 

“I don’t… I don’t want to lose…” He started, cutting himself off.

 

“Lose what?” Richard asked in that caramel voice that Gavin could fucking swim in.

 

He didn’t want to lose the one person that he had ever truly cared for. The one person who cared for him, no matter how much he continued to be a machine. He knew he cared. He was programmed to, but also, on the rare, quiet occasion, Gavin could see genuine compassion in his eyes. He didn’t want to lose their inside jokes, or their perfect dynamic. He didn’t want to lose-

 

“You,” he whispered.

 

Gavin let out a shaky breath. His body tensed, as he stared into the blue eyes across from him. They were unreadable, various emotions flying past them in a matter of seconds. He felt as helpless a child, the single word hanging in the air, too menacing and threatening for Gavin’s opinion.

 

“I… Don’t want to lose you either, Gavin.” He said unsteadily, fear and uncertainty tracing his face. For once in his life, even knowing every word in multiple languages, he didn’t know what to say. He was edging into dangerous and repressed waters.

 

“It’s easier to ignore it, but I don’t think I can stand this. I hate watching you wither away like this. It’s breaking me. I… Don’t know what to do? I don’t know what to think.” He explained. His LED was dancing on his temple, flickering red like a crackling fire as he tried to bring his thoughts together. He ran a hand through his hair, nervously. “It’s horrifying, so I push it off, because it’s not important, but I just can’t take it anymore! I just want you to be happy again. I miss you, Gavin.”

 

Richard suddenly leaned over, taking Gavin into his arms in an awkward embrace. “I don’t want to lose you for good.”

 

Gavin’s face went red, tears starting to drip down onto the back of Richard’s jacket. He clutched tighter, sobbing harder, before realizing that he felt lighter than before. He realized that he could breathe again.

 

Gavin was a messy crier, but that was okay. Richard couldn’t see him, and he desperately needed to let it all out.

 

Everything was going to be alright.


End file.
